NAIROBI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- African Securities Exchange Association (ASEA) on Friday signed a three-year deal to promote the development of the continent's capital markets.
ASEA said the cooperation pact inked in Nairobi will see Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) extend technical assistance to ASEA to 208,000 U.S. dollars to support the organization of the Annual ASEA Flagship Conference; and enhance the quality of data and statistics on the ASEA website portal.
"ASEA was established to showcase the prominence of Exchanges in societal transformation and as enablers of inclusive economic growth in Africa; and today we have yet again taken a significant step forward by partnering with FSD Africa. This cooperation will indeed build awareness of African markets," ASEA president Oscar N. Onyema said.
Through this technical assistance programme, ASEA and FSD Africa are working together to promote the sustainable development of Africa's capital markets by encouraging inflows of long-term finance into Africa's capital markets, and providing a spur to economic growth as those capital flows are invested in the real economy.
The Annual ASEA Conference is the flagship forum by the Association which brings together key decision makers in the African financial market to discuss and suggest possible ways of advancing the continent's socioeconomic transformation through the capital markets.
FSD Africa will leverage its capital markets partnerships to share emerging insights, knowledge, and best practices in the capital markets at the annual conference.
Onyema said ASEA will collaborate with FSD Africa to strengthen ASEA's position by enriching the information portal on ASEA's website to provide the information that local and international investors need to make investment decisions.
"Better availability of information on African exchanges is expected to increase investor interest and confidence in Africa's capital markets and result in more transactions," he said.
Mark Napier, the Director of FSD Africa expressed hope that capital markets can play a critical role in reducing poverty and strengthening financial inclusion, as well as stimulating economic transformation.
"ASEA, with its pan-African reach, is an excellent partner for us as we continue to implement our broad-ranging strategy for capital market development in Africa," said Napier,
The African Securities Exchanges Association is the premier association of the 27 securities exchanges in Africa who have come together with the aim of developing Member Exchanges and providing a platform for networking.
